The Dumbing Down of Love
by phoenix521
Summary: So, this is my first Cowboy Bebop fic. Inspired by Frou Frou and her song The Dumbing Down of Love. I hope you like it, I liked writing it. If you like to review, that's be nice, just nothing too harsh, please.


_Author's Beginning Note:_ This is my first attempt at a Cowboy Bebop fanfiction. I'm working as best I can off of the series that I recently completed viewing for the first time. I'm still not too clear on the whole Spike/Julia/Vicious thing, but I'm doing my best. I got the inspiration for this after listening to Frou Frou one too many times. So, the song is "The Dumbing Down of Love" by Frou Frou, of course. It's seems like it worked out well. So, if you like it; let me know. If you don't, that's okay too. Review if you'd like, just nothing too harsh, please. Enjoy!

_Italics _song

Not italics story

simple enough :)

_The Dumbing Down of Love_

_Well painted passion…_

Backs arched, hips flexing; in and out of comforting warmth. Breath quickens, words inaudible; sweat drips from every pore. She holds on tight, as tight as she dares, letting herself be invaded again and again. He gazes down at her. God, when did she get so beautiful?

_You rightly suspect…_

Her voice escapes her in short gasps, all she can muster as he takes her. Unable to hold back any longer, he lets all he has flow from him. Both are no longer able to care, and they let their sounds echo off of the metal walls.

_Impersonation…_

Faye's jungle green eyes explode open, her mind fully awake. Her skin is slick with sweat and her body tingles from head to toe. Why is she still dreaming about him?

"Damn it, Spike. Will you ever leave me alone?" she asks the night.

Rolling out of bed, she heads to the shower, intent on trying to wash away his memory.

_The dumbing down of love…_

It has been nearly a year since Spike left the Bebop. Since Spike left Faye, since Spike left the world of the living. But was he ever really alive at all? That was why he left, wasn't it? To make sure this wasn't all a dream.

What in the hell did he mean by that, though? Faye knew he was alive. Wasn't that enough? As the warm water surrounds her, Faye can't help but continue to think of that man. Maybe it would have been better if he was a dream. Then, perhaps, Faye wouldn't be in love with him.

_Jaded in anger…_

"Aaaghhh!" she screams as the clock flies across her bedroom. The time only serves as a constant reminder that he isn't coming back.

He left so he could die. That's all there was to it. She didn't mean anything to him; she was just another blur in his mind's eye.

The only one who ever made a difference in Spike's life was Julia. Julia. When Faye met her, she knew she was something different, something special. But then again, wasn't Faye? She may have been, but she was no Julia. Nothing that Spike could ever want.

"Ugh, that shit head!" Faye curses again. She realizes that she would never have been good enough.

_Love underwhelms you…_

Faye sinks to her bed. Why can't she let go? She was never anything more to him than a headache. But she was _his_ headache. Now, she didn't know what she was anymore. It was bad enough her memories offered her no comfort, now she didn't even have his constant hatred. What more is left for her? She will just stop loving Spike. It will be as simply as that.

_No box of chocolates…_

Leaving her room once more, Faye pads down the quiet, cold hallway of the Bebop, making her way to the kitchen. It is still early; Jet won't be up for at least a few more hours.

She opens the door to the refrigerator and closes it back. Empty. Again. It seems as though no bounty was ever enough to keep food in the kitchen. But then again, neither Jet nor Faye hunted as they once did. A certain reckless member of their crew wasn't there to keep them on their toes.

Opening the cabinets, Faye happens upon a box of graham crackers. She isn't sure how old they are, but food is food. She pours a glass of water and sits at the table.

"Ew, they're stale," she mutters, taking another bite.

_Whichever way you fall…_

Finishing up the last old cinnamon bit, Faye heads back down the hall, leaving her mess behind. Not ready to go back to her bed, she continues down the hall. Past Jet's room, she hears his snores. Past Ed's room, where the sleeping girl is mumbling some odd rhyme.

Faye almost chuckles to herself, remembering the look on Ed's face when she returned two months ago. Finding Spike person gone, Ed sat in his room and slept in his bed for a month straight. Neither Faye nor Jet realized how attached Ed had grown to Spike. It was almost sad. Not only had this girl lost her father again, she had lost Spike. As Ein whimpers in his sleep, Faye continues walking.

As she passes _his_ room, Faye is all too tempted to go inside, but decides immediately against it. Feeling the tears start to sting behind her eyes, Faye pivots and begins the trek back to her room. Her retreat is halted, however, when she trips and falls.

With her knee breaking her fall, all she can do is hold her slightly bloody knee, and search for the object that has sent her to the ground. When she finds the object, she curses aloud.

_And if I tell you…_

Spike's gun. One of them, at least. How in the hell did it get out here is beyond Faye. But no matter what she does, it seems as if she will never get away from him.

_Lover alone without love…_

She picks up the gun and looks it over. She clutches it to her chest, and begins to cry.

_What will happen…_

Cocking the gun, Faye places the barrel under her chin. All she has to do is pull the trigger and all of her pain will end.

_Lover alone without love…_

But something stops her. It is almost as if she hears Spike, just a faint hint of his voice, telling her not to do it. But why? Why is she hearing, of all people, Spike?

_Will you miss him?_

For Christ's sake, she misses him so much; she uses him to keep her from killing herself. She is a coward, and he is a scapegoat. Her scapegoat. Her love.

_Lover alone without love, without love._

In the cockpit of the Red Tail, Faye stares out into the endless, star-filled sky. She wonders which star is hers. If she could find it, she would fly to it, and burn out in its splendor. But there are too many out this morning, and her eyes just can't adjust.

_No, no I'll get this…_

A ringing on her monitor brings Faye out of her thoughts. She wonders what Jet could want right now. It is still early, and she doesn't think she woke him. Maybe he found her mess, and wants her to clean it up. With a sigh, she clicks on the monitor.

"Faye? It's you, isn't it? Long time, no see."

_I want to treat you…_

Faye stares at the monitor, unaware of the small meteor shower she is flying towards.

"Well, are you gonna say something, or are you just gonna sit there with that dumb look on your face," the man on the monitor smugly says.

"Spi…Spike?" is all that Faye can get out.

_You're still not famous…_

Spike Spiegel, ever smug, ever cool and cocky, sits in the seat of the Swordfish II, staring back at a shocked Faye Valentine. He's been gone for just under a year. After his fight with Vicious, he was on the brink of death. Taken to the other side of Mars, and deemed dead by the fading Syndicate, Spike was just a ghost: not living, but not dead.

Finally healed, and seeing clearly, Spike had woken from his dream. He had faced reality, more so, Julia's death, and he knew he had to get over that. Get over it all. Julia wasn't the golden haired angel he always thought her to be. He finally saw her for who and what she really was.

Vicious had her, in every since of the word. Julia would never be for Spike, never again. For all he cared, the two could live happily in Hell together. Right now, though, there are a couple of people who deserve a really good explanation of his absence.

_And you haven't struck it rich…_

"Yeah, that's what they call me," he responds once again.

"What…what are you doing…alive!" Faye yells. This has to be false, it just has to be.

"What do you know, I guess I am. Where are you? Are you close to the Bebop?"

She just looks at him. He is dressed in that damn yellow shirt and black tie. His tuft of green hair has grown out a bit, and it now lies shaggily across his forehead. And his eyes, those eyes of two different hues, stare back at her, waiting for an answer.

"What the hell is going on? This can't be happening." Faye speaks aloud, unable to pull her eyes from the screen. She still doesn't realize just how close she is getting to the falling space stones.

"Well then, if you're not going to answer me, I'll just have to find you all by myself," Spike retorts, enjoying the shock on Faye's lovely face.

It isn't until when the cockpit begins to beep, that Faye realizes what trouble she is in. Deep into the storm, Faye is trapped by the meteors. She tries desperately to maneuver her way out, but to no avail. Her ship is struck, and she is falling. She has just seen a ghost, and now she is going to die.

_Underachieving…_

Spike watches helplessly as Faye's battered vehicle falls to the red planet below. He hadn't been far away, and only contacted her when he had her in his sights. He knew she was close to the storm, but he thought she knew what she was doing. But he was wrong. Dead wrong.

He didn't live; he didn't pull himself out of the dark just to lose another angel. Putting the Swordfish into a dive, he speeds after her.

_Cause no one's receiving…_

As Faye's ship breaches the atmosphere of Mars, the ship begins to slow. Due to the Martian ozone, and the build up of pollution, her deadly descent is slowed, but still not enough to save her.

Spike, finally catching up to her, sees Faye's unconscious form, bloodied in the seat. He rushes underneath her ship, and successfully hooks his to hers. Slowing her fall, Spike is able to land both of them safely.

Jumping out of his ship, Spike rushes to Faye and carefully pulls her out and into his lap.

"Faye? Faye, please open your eyes," he pleads.

_This tunnel vision…_

Barely able to see past the stinging and the blood, Faye's emerald eyes lock gaze with Spike's mismatched russet orbs.

"So (cough), we meet again, Space Cowboy…" Faye closes her eyes once more, and her body falls limp.

_It's turning out all wrong…_

"Faye? Faye! God damnit, wake up!"

Spike is yelling at Faye, hoping that she'll snap out of it and yell back. But she doesn't move. Effortlessly lifting her up, Spike runs back to the Swordfish and rushes off to the nearest hospital.

_And if I tell you…_

"You're not dying on my, Faye! Do you hear me? Not now, not after all this!"

_Lover alone without love…_

Spike sits in the waiting room. He waits for what seems like hours. Why was he so stupid? Why didn't he just tell her when he had the chance? He had gone to die, all those months ago, but now, Faye was in that position. Life wasn't a dream. It was now an all too painful reality.

_What will happen…_

"First off, I'm not even going to ask what's going on," Jet Black announces, seeing Spike's slumping form in the corner. "Secondly, what in the hell happened? I wake up, only to find that _you_ are the one alive while _she's_ the one dying! I knew you two were trouble from the very beginning!"

_Lover alone without love…_

Spike watches Jet go on his tirade, but he doesn't really hear him. He is in desperate love with Faye. That's all he can comprehend at the moment.

_Will you miss him…_

"She got some bumps and bruises. And she's got a broken leg. The blood she was coughing up was from a punctured lung, which came from a broken rib. But she's going to be alright, Mr. Spiegel. You can go in and see her now," the doctor says, happy to bring good news to this sad, young man.

"Oh Faye," he speaks just barely above a whisper. "You can't scare me like that. If you died, I'd miss you too much."

He sits by her bed and puts his head in his hands. Believing that she will be okay, Spike cries. That was all too close for his liking.

Jet peers in on his comrades, and realizes what always seemed impossible: Spike loves Faye. With a smile across his lips, he goes back to the waiting room, shaking his head. Life on the Bebop is going to be unbearable now.

_Lover alone without love, without love._

Evening comes before he knows it. Spike looks out the window as the sun tries to come in. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the day had gotten off to a difficult start.

Getting up to close out the setting sun, Spike casts a glance towards Faye's battered, yet beautiful body. He was a fool before to leave her. Why didn't he see his reality now lie in her? Well, he did now, and that would have to do. He can only hope that she will forgive him, and be a part of his awakening.

_Music is worthless, unless it can…_

A soft jazz melody filters throughout the room, and Spike returns to Faye's side. He strokes her wine colored hair and breathes in her sweet scent.

_Make a complete stranger…_

Spike doesn't understand it. He doesn't know why he loves her. For God's sake, he doesn't even know her.

'Heh, she doesn't even know herself,' Spike thinks to himself.

He vaguely remembers that she told him her memories returned. But he didn't really hear anything she said that night. He was too preoccupied with his position between life and death.

'Never again, Faye. Never again.'

_Break down and cry…_

Again, tears roll down Spike's tanned face. What had he put her through? And why? But all he need now was for Faye to wake up and forgive him. Wake up and love him.

_And if I tell you…_

As if hearing his internal pleas, Faye's eyes flutter open. As she takes in her new surroundings, she is caught off guard by a man's soft sobs. Angling her head to the left, she gasps at who she sees.

"Spike? Is that you, Cowboy?"

Spike jerks his head up and stares long and hard at Faye. All the words he wants to say can't find a way out.

_Lover alone without love…_

Even in the hospital, newly awoken from a trauma induced sleep, Faye is still breathtaking. Spike would gladly have his breath taken away from her. He makes his mind up right then and there: he doesn't need the golden-haired Julia to kill him. He wants this woman with the violet tresses to keep him alive.

_And what will happen…_

"Faye, I…I don't now what to say…"

He knows exactly what to say, he just doesn't know how to get it out.

_Lover alone without love…_

"Did you find what you were looking for; did you ever wake from your dream?" Faye asks him, unaware that his tears are for her.

_And will you listen…_

"Yeah, I sure did," Spike begins. "Vicious said he was the only one who could kill me. And he did. He killed me when he took Julia from me."

Faye looks on, amazed that Spike can see Julia like this, yet unable to truly understand what he is saying.

"And then, when I woke up again, all I could think of was you, Faye. Somewhere, after all of it, you rang loudest in my mind."

Again, Faye looks at him. Who is this man? This isn't the Spike Spiegel she knew a year ago.

"I want you to help me live, Faye. Keep me from anymore of those dreams…"

_Lover alone without love, without love._

What is he saying? What is the Gorgio trying to say? Faye can't understand; he just isn't making sense.

_Without love…_

"I love you, Faye Valentine, please believe that. I'm never going to let my past keep me from such a wonderful future. A future, I hope, that will be with you."

_Without love…_

Faye looks at Spike. Is he for real? The look in his eyes. Those unusual eyes. Faye is ready to get lost in them forever.

"I knew you'd come around sometime, Cowboy," Faye goads as she sees that ever cocky smile return to Spike's face.

"But of course, my dear shrew. I can't very well let you annoy another man, now can I?" he says playfully, as he finally tastes the sweetness of her lips.

"I love you, Faye," he whispers to her softly.

"I love you, too, Spike."

_Without love…_

_ CONGRATULATIONS, SPACE COWBOY, LIFE IS  
__ MORE THAN JUST A DREAM._..

_Authors Ending Note: _Hope it wasn't too bad. I had fun with it, at least. And if you liked this story, and/or Trigun, too, then head on over to the Trigun section and look for "The Beautiful Letdown" and/or "Emergency Exit". They're both mine, and I think they're good. Maybe you will too. Either way, I'm outtie. Have a good day/night and a pleasant tomorrow!

_-phoenix521_


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